Bursting Forth: Thank You, Pandemic

I’ve had to convince myself, more than once, that it’s OK to feel joy at how things turned out for me as a result of the pandemic.

For a while there, I felt guilty and didn’t want to say out loud that my life is better now than it’s ever been.  After all, so many people have suffered and are still.  So many people have lost jobs they really depended on and, whether unemployment insurance was able to rescue them or not, they may soon face hardships again when those benefits end.  So many people lost loved ones.  So many lost much-needed contact with friends and loved ones.  So many … lost.

I have had the privilege of semi-retiring.  After decades and decades, I’m finally able to not teach, not perform, not be on the hamster wheel.  Finally, I’m able to explore the joy and challenge of learning to draw and to paint and to make stuff.

I called this (my second-ever painting) Bursting Forth because that is literally how I feel: as though I am bursting out of a shell that I had been forced into all of my life.  I know that many, many people have been feeling exactly the same way.

I feel renewed.

I feel interested again.

I feel challenged.

I feel curious.

I feel excited to get up in the morning.

And though I still feel very sad for those who have not had the same outcomes, I do finally feel like it’s OK to be grateful and joyful about the benefits I’ve gained.

Whoever you are and however it all has turned out for you, I hope you’re able to find some gratitude and comfort as you recover from the way the world changed.

Please share your thoughts on how you’ve come through the pandemic!